1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a swirl machine, and more particularly to a frosty swirl machine comprising a protective cap, a rinsing mechanism and a shielding arrangement for enhancing a swirling performance of the frosty swirl machine.
2. Description of Related Arts
A conventional swirl machine, such as an ice-cream making apparatus, usually comprises a housing, an auger with helical thread supported in the housing, a funnel or container also supported in the housing for holding the a predetermined amount of ice cream and any desirable additives. Either the auger or the funnel are rotatable with respect to the other, and after some rotations of either the auger or the funnel, the ice cream and additives have obtained a semi-liquid condition which is to be discharged out of the funnel for consumption.
There are several disadvantages related to this type of conventional swirl machine. First, the funnel and the auger are difficult to detach from the housing, yet they require frequent cleaning because ice-cream and the additives are mediums in which bacteria growth is prevalent. Thus, users of this type of conventional swirl machine must make extensive efforts in cleaning the funnel and the auger every time the machine is used for making ice-cream.
Second, when the machine has been used to mix ice cream and additives, the mixture contained in the funnel must be completely discharged or ice-cream residue will undesirably come out from a bottom discharge opening of the funnel. This presents serious hygiene and cleaning problem.
Third, when the auger is rotating to swirl the ice cream, a large amount of residue will go out of the funnel and splash all around the machine. This makes the surrounding areas of the swirl machine very dirty. For safety reasons, the conventional swirl machine may include a safety shield mounted in the vicinity of the auger so as to prevent people from touching the auger while it is rotating. However, while the safety shield may reduce the amount of residues from coming out of the funnel and reaching the surrounding area of the machine, the residues actually splash on the shield itself, making it very dirty after the machine is used. Thus, when the conventional swirl machine is used for mixing ice cream with additives, the relevant operators must detach many components (such as the funnel, the auger and the safety shield) from the housing and clean them one by one. After cleaning, the operators must reassemble those components back to the housing of the machine so that it can be used for next cycle of mixing. These procedures are very time-consuming and cumbersome.